My Turf

Introducing the Youth of Manila

“Nagsawa na ako sa kaka-reklamo tuwing walang makain!” exclaims the lead guitarist of Zone One when asked why he chose to devote his time to community work. Zone One is a group of young leaders in Metro Manila who express their advocacies on Adolescent Reproductive Health through the arts.

Nonetheless, it is not only in Manila that a notable upsurge in the youth’s active involvement in various issues in society could be seen. In small municipalities in different provinces, young men and women are eagerly joining organized efforts aimed at providing assistance to other youth. 

They claim many of them used to be so angry: Angry at their parents. Angry at the society. Angry at the government. Angry at the glaring disparity between the rich and the poor.

But when they were organized and taught about their rights, made aware of their capacities and the extent of assistance they could provide despite the personal difficulties they also face, these young men and women decided it is high time they see beyond their rage and declared, “Enough!”

The success of Zone One is proof that if you have an inspired, revved-up youth rallying for change, then growth couldn’t remain stagnant for long and progress couldn’t be too far off.

 

What it was like before

Some of the boys used to be car thieves. A couple of young women were into prostitution. Many were out of school. Almost, if not all of them were lost, confused, angry and insecure.

Responsible sexuality was unheard of, and teenage pregnancy was on the rise. Living in overpopulated areas fraught by neglect and poverty, the youth of Navotas, Caloocan, and Manila seem poised to remain in the same slump their parents were unable to get out of.

 

Hope springs

Zone One Tondo Organization or ZOTO is a federation of 182 urban poor local organizations in 14 relocation sites in Metro Manila. In existence since the 1970s, its main mission is to economically and politically empower the people in urban poor communities. Prior to its partnership with the UNFPA, the main programs of Zone One Tondo Organization or ZOTO, focused on lobbying efforts to help address issues related to the urban poor’s woes like demolitions, electricity and water supply. When it became part of the UNFPA’s program of assistance, it included gender and reproductive health (RH) in its lineup of programs, with emphasis on maternal and child healthcare.

In early 2000, ZOTO started RH programs as a spin-off of their Gender Equity Program.  They advocated RH through information campaign, education and service delivery in response to the needs of the mothers. With more intensive RH trainings from UNFPA, however, the organizers realized that they need to cover more than maternal needs—it was equally vital to give attention to Adolescent Reproductive Health (ARH).

When the need for ARH was established, ZOTO wasted no time in organizing and mobilizing the youth. The attempt was an instant success.  “You’re dealing with felt needs kasi eh. Mas may acceptance tsaka openness yung communities don sa programs na na-introduce sa kanila, particularly sa reproductive health, kasi  ramdam nila na talagang problema nila yun,” says ZOTO Sustainability Program Officer, Bijo.

Workshops on ARH were conducted. More and more young leaders and volunteers joined in, and the friendships were made ever stronger when a youth center was built. The youth’s creative ideas and talents flourished along with their leadership skills. In almost no time, the empowered members of Zone One are going from one Baranggay to another, performing and conveying their message about RH to other adolescents.              

Gone are the days when the youth could be classified under either of only two categories: passive or aggressive. But with ZOTO’s organizational know-how and generous support from the UNFPA, the youth of Navotas, Caloocan and Manila are no longer seen as nuisances, or causes of the community’s problems, but actual partners in the solution.

Making It Happen

The most recent, and also widely successful, endeavor ZOTO got into in partnership with UNFPA is Zone One, an organization of young leaders and ARH lobbyists. Zone One members demonstrate their involvement on issues in the society through creative means. Through UNFPA, innovative avenues for expression sprouted where there used to be none. “Nakapagbigay ang UNFPA ng mga materyales na magagamit namin sa pag-advocate.  Itong youth center, naging malaking hatak sa mga kabataan upang sumali sa organization. Dito kami nakakapag-practice. Nagkaroon din kami ng art workshops.  Na-enhance din yung relationships, kasi dito namin nakilala ang isa’t-isa,” a Zone One member shares.

Proving that the youth could achieve so much, with enough motivation, given the proper training and equipped with the right tools, the empowered teens of Zone One transformed themselves into a proactive lot—going on Baranggay Tours, advocating ARH through their music and dances, speaking to their fellow youth about ARH and other related concerns. They were also able to record their original song compositions—Zone One is now proud of the three recording albums they have completed since the band was launched.

Perhaps the most significant accomplishment of Zone One—which consequently led to bigger developments for the communities–is how it convinced the youth that they, too, have a crucial role to play in the fight for change.  “Tumaas ang concern sa paligid, sa tao.  Naging responsible.  Aaminin ko kasi, dahil lalaki ako, kapag sa usapin ng sex, gusto lang yari ng yari, di ba?  Nung Field Coordinator na ako, naging responsible ako.  Tumaas ang pang-unawa ko sa buhay,” says another band member.

 

ZOTO’s Gender Equity Program Coordinator, Nini, claims that the success of Zone One could be attributed to the youth’s transformed perception of themselves. “Hindi sustainable kung wala sa hangarin ng tao na mabago ang buhay nya. Nagtagumpay ang Zone One dahil  may ownership sila—‘Ito ay amin.’  Dapat mayroon kang mataas at bukas na kamulatan para tumulong sa ganung paglalakbay.”

Out of school, insecure, financially deprived, born of very poor families who could hardly make ends meet– the future used to seem so bleak for these young men and women. But that was until Zone One helped them realize their untapped potential and taught them how to use their talents to help bring about positive changes in their respective communities.  It is indeed very inspiring to watch them confidently speak and perform in front of large crowds of people they don’t even know. They no longer feel powerless. They are now empowered.

“Masarap maging mulat!” the Zone One peers cry out.

 

“Before UNFPA, you’d seldom see health people explaining family planning, what Reproductive Health is, what are the different contraceptives… Kapag hindi ka pumunta sa RHU to ask, you will not have the information.

-          Lilia Say-awen, Community Organizer, PHSSA

 

Products and services related to reproductive health (RH) had always been available at almost no cost in Rural Health Units (RHU). However, most people in the municipality of Sagada were not accessing them because either they did not know about these services at all, or they did not understand how these could benefit them.

 

Sagada is a small municipality in the Cordillera Region. While natural resources abound, most people are hard-up and have difficulty making ends meet. As parents struggle to provide for the everyday needs of their families, health care often tends to take a backseat.

 

 

The Local Government Unit (LGU) and the Municipal Health Office (MHO) also had a lot on their hands—manpower limitation and financial restraints made it difficult to bring health services down to the communities, especially to those in far-flung barangays. If people wanted access to information and services related to reproductive health, they had to go the Rural Health Units themselves.

 

 

Due to the lack, if not total absence, of education regarding RH, Sagada’s population continued to grow. Before 2005, the risk of maternal and infant mortality remained as 60% of deliveries were done at homes, conducted by untrained Hilot or Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA). People were unmindful of sexually transmitted diseases and other dangers posed by unprotected sex. Among the youth, cases of substance abuse and teenage pregnancy were also on the rise.

 

 

 

Keeping the Faith

 

 

“Anong family planning? Hindi namin kailangan yan. Malawak ang Sagada!

Baket namin kokontrolin? Basta kaya naming buhayin!”

 

 

 

This used to be the common response of many men in Sagada when asked about their stand on family planning. Even with support from the UNFPA and resolute community organizing efforts from the members of PHSSA, positive changes resulting from the information dissemination campaigns in the barangays were not immediately felt. The low reception and people’s reluctance to participate, especially of the men, in the health education seminars conducted by the RHUs in their respective barangays was a major headache for the members of PHYSSA and the Municipal Health Office.

 

 

“Hirap na hirap kami nung una. Ayaw kaming pansinin!” exclaimed Marvie Molintas, community organizer from PHSSA. How to get the men to attend posed a really big challenge to the RH advocates. This was the case in all of Sagada’s 19 barangays, and Barangay Ankileng was no exception.

 

 

Like an answered prayer, however, an unforeseen solution to this long-standing problem knocked on their doors one day. The leaders of the Marriage Ministry of a Presbyterian Church approached their RHU to seek help for a Couple’s Class they’re planning to conduct for the residents of Barangay Ankileng.  “Nagtayo kami ng couple’s class, last year nung 2007. We tapped the RHU para mag-support sila sa chapter namin on Intimacy. Kasi yun ang concern ng mga couples: Gusto nilang maging intimate. Ang problema nga lang, baka manganganak. Kaya sabi ko sa taga-RHU, pagkatapos ng intimacy namin na chapter, magbigay kayo ng classes tungkol sa maternal health at reproductive health.”

 

 

The staff of the RHU acceded to the religious leaders’ request. Given the difficulty of gathering people in a single event, any chance to promote RH was a most welcome opportunity. But what they saw Ankileng was far from what they expected.

 

 

 

To say that the RHU representatives were surprised when they first came to the church’s Couple’s Class would be an understatement. With all the women attendees were their husbands! Amazed, the RHU staff asked the Marriage Ministry facilitators, “How did you do it?” The response of Lolita Tuanda, pastor from the Presbyterian Church, was simple: this is a Couples’ Class, so only couples are allowed to attend. “Hindi pwedeng wife lang. Hindi pwedeng husband lang. Couple dapat.”

 

Following the success of the first session, a separate RH module was developed and incorporated in the Couples’ Class. The RHU staff trained the facilitators from the Marriage Ministry on RH so that they could teach the RH modules themselves. The conduct of a Couples’ Class in Barangay Ankileng was soon replicated in other areas.

 

 

 

 

The biggest outcome of the effort is an increased involvement of the men with regard to the health concerns of their families. After having undergone training, the men’s thinking about RH took a complete turnaround–their wives attest to their transformation. A housewife claims:

 

 

“Nung nag-aral kami nung don sa Couples’, doon nalaman ng mga asawa namin na dapat pala ay magplano ng pamilya para maging maganda ang kinabukasan ng mga bata. At nalaman din nila na importante pala sa isang babae na mag-control para maalagaan niya ang katawan niya. Napag-aralan din nila ang tungkol sa VAWC. Alam na ng mga asawa namin yun.”

 

 

 

It was not only the men that benefitted from efforts to educate the communities on RH. Information and knowledge on their rights truly empowered the women– they became more assertive when it came to making decisions for the family. For the women of Barangay Ankileng, their increased self-confidence enabled them to set in motion OB OB-BON DI I NIN-A (Mothers’ Bayanihan) or ODIA. This organization has been in existence since the ‘80s, but was inactive for more than a decade until the women of Ankileng decided to revive it in 2007.

 

 

With some support from the UNFPA, ODIA’s rebirth led to the establishment of a community-based livelihood initiative: a peanut butter-making business. This gave additional income to the members. Moreover, a percentage of the generated profits go to a communal savings which they could use when health emergencies occur.

 

 

 

 

 

According to PHSSA’s Marvie Molintas, this project is a concrete manifestation that the people are finally realizing that health is actually everybody’s concern.  “Ngayon, with the program, mas na-realize nila na pwede palang magkaron ng unti-unti na savings para masagutan yung pangangailangan ng women na hindi kaya lahat na masagutan mula doon sa present na estado ng kabuhayan. So, parang andun kaagad yung direction na paggawa nila ng economic endeavors towards RH. It taught them na ang health pala, concern ng lahat: Concern ng family. Concern ng Baranggay Council, hindi lang ng RHU.”

 

 

 

 

Lolita Tuanda, a pastor in the Ankileng Presbyterian Church and speaker on RH Couples’ Class on family planning:

“Alam namin na pag healthy ang family, healthy din ang community. Pag ang aim ay healthy family, kasama talaga ang family planning. Kasi paano mo naman masasabi na healthy ang isang pamilya kung wala ang pagpa-plano? “

 

 

 

 

The public is commonly uncomfortable with change. Often, they tend to reject outright new ideas they do not understand. Sagada’s story proves that after understanding follows acceptance, but doing this may take more than just organizing or mobilizing. Sometimes, the key element that would lead to it is an unexpected partner like the Ankileng Presbyterian Church. In due course, people, given the right information and avenue for expression, would find creative and innovative ways to help themselves.

To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty in its lair. To never simplify what is complicated nor complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try to understand. To never look away. And never, never forget.

-          ARUNDHATI ROY

I have never been more exhausted. But I have never felt more alive.

When I accepted the UNFPA project, I knew I was getting the opportunity of a lifetime. And reality delivered exactly as, if not more than, the dream promised.

The final weeks of July and the first two weeks of August had been a dizzying mix of take-offs, landings, airport taxis, luggage conveyors, tape and mp3 recorders, boarding passes, small planes, cramped terminals, dingy provincial hotel rooms, Nissan Patrols and Toyota Hi-Lux pickups bearing blue plates, and rough roads so bumpy I could hardly sleep despite my exhaustion.

Still, it had been a truly meaningful one and a half months, filled with a lot of handshakes and smiles…questions I’ve always wanted to ask, places I’ve always longed to see, inspiration I’ve always yearned to find.

In San Miguel, Catanduanes, I saw the boulders that fell off the mountains after a landslide, and the bridge split into two by the raging waters during a typhoon. I saw the majestic handiwork of indigenous forefathers in Sagada. Good, late-night conversations by the sea in Virac proved to be very refreshing. We’ve long studied about this infrastructure that connects Samar to Leyte, but I never really thought I’d be able to really be on the San Juanico bridge—I was wide-eyed with amazement and gratitude the entire time we were crossing it. 

The best sites for me, though, feature the wide grins and unmistakable glint in the eyes of the people providing muscle to the program. Midwives and Barangay Health Workers, volunteers who list down the names of every pregnant woman and every child in every household, walking seven kilometers or more because, being unpaid workers, they do not even have money for habal-habal fare just to make sure that the expectant mothers come for pre-natal checkups and that the kids get immunized on time.

I was able to listen to fathers, their skin dark and leathery, their hands and feet apparently hardened by heavy work, telling you how they volunteered to undergo non-scalpel vasectomy because “Mahirap ang buhay,” and they know they wouldn’t be able to ensure a good future for their kids if they keep ‘going forth and multiplying.’ They also fear for their wives’ health—they didn’t use to, but when they were reached by information that used to be concealed from them, they decided it’s time they do something.

I met brilliant doctors who could have made it big off shore, but are serving as Municipal Health Officers. Underpaid, underappreciated by the higher-ups, satisfied in treating patients in their tiny clinics. Dra. Jabonillo, Municipal Health Officer in Carmen, Bohol, is truly a classic. Two years ago, her husband died due to heart failure cause by a 2-hour strenuous tennis match. She tried to revive her husband herself, but he died on her watch because there was only so much CPR could do—the community hospital that she serves does not have defibrillator.

You would think she would get angry at the world, angry at the government, angry at the lack of facilities or the lack of manpower or the lack of hospital funds. She could have chosen to be angry, and she had every right to. What’s most admirable, most heroic about her is that she didn’t.

Two days after her husband’s burial, she was back at the hospital. Teaching and serving and healing and saving the lives of people who could hardly cough up money to pay for her services. If there is one thing I learned from her, it is this: they key to not be overwhelmed by your personal woes is to devote yourself to helping others solve theirs. If we are focused on something bigger than ourselves, then we stop questioning our significance or the meaning of our lives or why the hell we were even born. And we stop resorting to blame, freeing ourselves from the pressure of controlling that which is beyond our capacity and of the impossible burden of trying to change the world by our lonesome.

Like Dra. Jabonillo, it has long been my passion to focus my attention on things that work instead of worrying about things that don’t. I have faith in the power of Good News because if you believe things are working, you feel bolder, more able to vie for bigger things. Naniniwala akong mas madaling i-organisa at i-mobilize ang mga taong inspired at masaya kesa sa mga taong galit. Anger blinds and controls and consumes you. It distorts your perception by making you feel helpless and unsure of your own capacity to bring about change. Inspiration, on the other hand, opens your heart and mind to so many possibilities. It helps you hope. It helps you help others hope. It empowers you to do more. It empowers you to empower others who could, consequently, empower countless more. This project with UNFPA all the more reinforced the truth to this. 

Bagamat tunay na na-inspire ako at nabuksan ang mata ko sa napakaraming bagay dahil sa proyektong ito, ang dami ko ring naging tanong sa sarili.

Sa Eastern Samar, may in-interview kaming isang pedicab driver tungkol sa family planning. Ayon sa kanya, 120 daw pesos ang kayang ipunin sa loob ng maghapong pagmamaneho ng padyak. 50 pesos ay pupunta lang sa boundary. 70 pesos na lang ang maiuuwi nya sa pamilya. “Sakto na yun!” sabi ng haligi ng tahanan. And the wife agrees.

70 pesos na kita sa isang araw. Kayang bumuhay ng isang pamilyang may apat na anak.

Mula sa Samar hanggang makauwi ako ng Maynila, napaisip ako kung paano ko ginagastos ang pera ko. Kung sa Ortigas o Makati ka nagtatrabaho, ni hindi sasapat ang 70 pesos pang-lunch. Ang 1-piece chicken nga sa isang fastfood restaurant, lampas 70 pesos ang halaga. Hindi pa large ang drink mo nun!

Dahil sa commitment and inspiration na nakita ko sa mga pinuntahan naming baranggay, mas lalo tuloy akong naging kating-kati tumulong. Habang papauwi si Aling Rosa, in-interview namin na biktima ng Violence Against Women (VAW)—walang trabaho, mahigit sampung taong nagtiis ng pambubugbog ng asawa, gusto kong bumunot ng pera sa bulsa at ibigay sa kanya. Pero pinigil ko ang sarili ko. Naisip kong baka mapahiya sya kung basta abutan ko na lang sya. Naiintindihan ko rin naman kasi ang importansya ng may pinanghahawakan ka pa ring pride kahit papaano. Hindi ko na aalisin sa kanya yun.

Sa Sagada, pila-pila sa Rural Health Unit ang mga ina at amang dala-dala ang anak nila para ipa-immunize. Magkano ang halaga ng pagpapa-bakuna? Sampung piso.

SAMPUNG PISO!

Pootek. Eh kung mayroon pala akong isang libong piso, kaya kong magpa-immunize ng isang daang bata! Tipong pumunta ako sa isang komunidad na may 100 ang bilang ng mga babies at sabihing, “Tara, papa-bakunahan ko ang lahat ng mga bata sa baranggay na ito! Heto ang 1,000 pesos!”

Sa mga kaibigan natin, lagi nating sinasabi, “Wala na akong pera! Kawawa naman ako!” Pero paano nga ba natin ginagastos ang pera natin?

Napapaisip ako kung saan ko inuubos ang kinikita ko. Madalas akong nagsusunog ng mahigit 100 para sa isang serving ng kape. Samantalang sa ibang liblib na bahagi ng Pilipinas, makakapag-ensure ng health ng sampung bata ang 100 pesos na ito. 300 ang ibinabayad ko sa pagpapa-masahe at halos 500 para magpa-foot scrub dahil kailangan kong mag de-stress. Habang sa mga maliliit na baranggay sa sarili nating bansa, di mabilang ang mga pamilyang nagkakasya sa mas mababa pa sa 100 pesos kada araw na kinikita ng ama.

As professionals, lagi nating iniisip na lugi tayo, hindi tayo nababayaran ng tama. Bilang mga writers na lang, halimbawa, madalas na masama pa ang loob mo kung mababa sa sampung libo ang talent fee na ibinabayad ng kliyente para sa isang script. Kung tutuusin, may mga scripts na kayang-kaya namang isulat sa loob ng ilang oras. Sa totoo lang, at walang halong bola ito, minsan napapaisip ako kung bakit kailangang napaka-mahal nating sumingil—lalo na para sa isang bagay na gustong-gusto rin naman nating gawin. 

I couldn’t help but question the disparity. But if I were to be true to myself, alam kong hindi ko rin naman gugustuhin ang ganong buhay. Maraming beses na nakakaramdam ako ng guilt, lalo na sa tuwing pagkatapos kong bumaba sa komunidad at magpa-kwento sa mga tao doon ay uuwi ako sa hotel ko, bubuksan ang aircon, manonood ng satellite TV, magtatalukbong ng comforter, tapos io-on ang laptop. Wow, sarap buhay.

Ngayon, habang sinusulat ko ito, hindi malinaw sa akin kung anong punto ang gusto kong palabasin. Sa ngayon, gusto ko lang magsaad ng damdamin, kasi totoong sabay akong nabuhayan at sumama ang loob dahil sa mga katotohanang nakita ko.

Gusto ko kasi talagang tumulong pero paano? Nung birthday month ko nung May, nagbalak akong mag-fund raising activity para makapamigay ng school supplies sa mga batang mahihirap. Pero di ko rin naman nabigyan ng panahon.

Bukod dito, gaanong tulong ba ang sapat? Naalala ko tuloy yung isang character don sa panalo pero short-lived na TV series na 4400. Ang special power nya ay kaya nyang magpagaling ng mga may sakit. May nag-warn sa kanya na wag niyang ipaalam sa iba na kaya nya itong gawin dahil tiyak na aabusuhin sya. Pero minsan, may isang pulubi syang tinulungan. Ang sumunod na eksena ay isang katerbang mahihirap na tao ang pumipilit sa kanyang pagalingin silang lahat. Pero dahil limitado lang ang kanyang power, hindi nya rin kinayang tulungan silang lahat at nagalit pa yung mga tao sa kanya.

Sa ngayon, ang konkretong balakin ko muna ay gawin kung ano ang makakaya, hangga’t kaya. Isa rin itong imbitasyon sa inyong lahat na bumabasa nito na kahit iisa ka lang, meron ka ring magagawa tungo sa pagbabago. Pero wag nating ikasama ng loob na may hangganan ang kaya nating ibigay. Hindi lang naman kasi tayo ang may kapasidad tumulong, kaya ni wag na nating tangkaing pasanin ang problema ng lahat ng tao. May kanya-kanya tayong galing, may kanya-kanya tayong hilig, may kanya-kanya tayong interes. Kung lahat tayo susundin ang mga puso natin, hindi na natin kailangang magagaw-agawan para sa pwesto natin sa mundo.

Tawagin mo na akong baduy, pero OO, mataas ang pangarap ko para sa bansang ito. At alam kong ang paglalakbay patungo dito ay hindi madali at hindi mabilis. Pero alam ko ring hindi ito imposible. And sharing the wonderful news I personally witnessed is the first step I’m taking towards the fulfillment of this dream.

Sisimulan ko  ang hangaring tumulong na ito sa pagpo-post ng mga storyang sinulat ko para sa librong ginagawa namin for UNFPA. Gusto ko lang kasing ipagmalaki sa lahat ng may panahong magbasa ng blog na ito na napatunayan ko nang hindi totoong lahat ng institusyon ng gobyerno sa bansang ito ay bulok. Hindi lahat ng opisyal ng pamahalaan ay palpak. Hindi lahat ng taong mahirap ay tamad. Hindi lahat ng nagbibigay ng tulong ay may hidden agenda. Sa lahat ng munisipyong pinuntahan namin sa Sagada, Bohol, Eastern Samar, Catanduanes at Navotas, may mga volunteers na napaka-passionate sa pagtulong sa kani-kanilang komunidad—kahit wala silang bayad, kahit walang medal, kahit wala silang direktang napapala. Sana may ma-inspire naman kahit papaano.

Ikaw, ano ang unang hakbang towards nation-building mo?